BEIRUT: Bader announced Monday the first investment of the Lebanese Business Angels (LBA) in the startup called OVIS for an amount of $100,000. OVIS is a company in the agro-food sector producing casings (i.e. sausage envelopes) with an objective to create 100 jobs in the medium term. The LBA looks for projects that are based in Lebanon in all sectors with an innovative or distinctive product or service and a potential for international growth. Then it acts as a platform where entrepreneurs are put in contact directly with investors through a streamlined process. “We identified a gap in the financing of startups through equity [i.e. the sale of shares of company against funding] leading us to the creation of the first organized Angel network in Lebanon, the LBA,” said Bader President Robert Fadel. Angels are individuals who invest their own money in these startups. Saad Azhari, who is leading the LBA initiative, said that “there is no lack of talents in Lebanon and supporting their development is our objective.”